Building construction



I. GRASSO.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16, 1920.

1 ,408,287 v Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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I. GRASSO.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. x6. 1 920.

Patented Feb. 28

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lll III IIIIIII Joseph Greggio ATTORNE WITNESS:

STATES rerum oFFlcE.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2S, 1922.

Application led March 16, 1920. Serial No. 866,190.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH GRASSO, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Building Constructions,` of which the following 1s a specification.

The invention relates to masonry and concrete structures and more particularly to building blocks and constructions for formin and building the same and it has for an obJect to rovide a building block which can be readi y interfitted with other similar building blocks to form a strong and durable structure and also provide for ventilation and air space, presenting also a neat and effective appearance on the eXterior. i

Among other features the invention comprehends a building block or blocks which are formed so that they will readily in terit, thus providing for the ready constructlon of a wall, column or other structure from blocks which can be quickly and cheaply manufactured and may in fact be kept in stock, the relative interfitting of the blocks providing for each of them to be substantially similar, thus enabling a large number of blocks to be made from a single mold.

Still further the invention comprehends a building block which is of a tongue or rib and groove construction, provided also with openings which when the blocks are assembled and intertted, will bring about the provision` of an air space in the wall of a building or structure, whereby warm or cold air can be carried through the wall for the purpose of heating or cooling the room or chamber, formed by a number of the walls, also maintaining a building so constructed, ina dry and healthy condition.

Still further the invention comprehends various improvements in building constructions over what is Shown in United States Letters Patent numbered 1087011, Building construction granted to me February 10, 1914.

In the 'further disclosure of the invention, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, constituting a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts Ain all the views, and in which,

Figure 1- is a fragmentary elevation of a wall formed of my building blocks, showing the manner of providing for an air space,

part of the wall being shown in elevation an d part in vertical section.

F1gure2- is a view looking down on the structure disclosed in Figure 1.

Figure 3'- is a perspective view of one of the forms of building blocks.

Figure 4 is an end view thereof.

Figure 5fis a horizontal sectional view taken through the form of building block shown in Figures 3, 4.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a` slab construction of block.

Figure 7- is an end view thereof.

Referring to the views, 'and more particularly to Figuresv 1-8 inclusive, I provide a building block A, consisting of a body 10 which may be suitably molded in concrete or any other convenient material and which when molded as shown in Figure 3, provides a block having vertical openings 11, formed therein, and portions 12 bordered along the upper edges by upstanding longitudinally extending ribs or tongues 13, these ribs or tongues extending downwardly along one endof the block as at 14 and terminating at the other end of the block in vertical grooves 15 with the undersides of the body also formed with grooves 16 extending longitudinally and in which the lower ends of the ribs 14 terminate, as shown. The block may in fact be stated to consist of three longitudinal sections 17 with each section having one of the upstanding longitudinally extending ribs 13 and one of the vertical projecting ribs 14 at one end and one of the grooves 15 at the other end with one of the grooves 16 formed in the underside. These sections 17 are of course molded integrally with' the portions 12 which have the openings 11 therein, so that the portions 12 in fact form cross pieces or portions 18. Some of these portions may be formed with hori zontal cuts or grooves 19 provided for receiving a wire or reinforcing cable or element 2O which may alsofbe in the nature of a rod so that blocks adj acently arranged in a horizontal line will have the cuts or grooves 19 aligning, whereby the insertion and disposition of theI wire or rod 20 will tend to'act as a connection between the ad jacent blocks, aiding materially in strengthening the wall or structure that is to be formed.

As shown in Figures 1, 2, the blocks when arranged to form a wall are preferably employed in connection with slabs 21 which are merely another form of block and which are shown in detail in Figures 6, 7, 8, each slab consisting of a body 22 formed with portions 23 roviding the outer faces and an interposed portion 24 having an lip-standing horizontal rib 25, an end proJecting rib 26 extending vertically and forming a continuation of the rib 25 with the other end of the block formed with a vertical groove as at 27 and the underside also formed with a groove as at 28 with the vertical rib 26 terminating in thc groove 28 and the horizontal rib 25 terminating in the groove 27. Now in building a Wall, the blocks and slabs are assembled to provide a substantially vertical pillar of the blocks and then several vertical columns of the slabs. Certain of'the blocks A, have the cross pieces or portions 18 extending throughout the verticaldistance of the blocks, whereas in others these vertical cross pieces are cut off near the bottom to form openings or channels 29 and with this arrangement it will be clearly seen in Figure 1, that a circulation of air between the walls of the slabs and blocks 1s provided in the construction of a wall 'such as shown and that the air which is circulated through the channels and spaces provided by the blocks and slabs and the relative arrangement thereof, may be a cold air or a warm air, as desired. 1t will be seen that the slabs are preferably arranged in three rows as shown in Figure 2, and that the flange of one slab engages in the groove of the next adjacent slab or in the end Vertical groove of the block and so on. rI-`h1s disposition of the slabs and blocks provides two vertical spaces 30, 31, one of which, namely the space 31, may be reinforced by suitable reinforcing rods 32 disposed in the space 31 which is then filled in with concrete 33.

From the foregoing and the views, it will be seen that a strong and durable wall is provided, the nature of which depends entirely upon the construction and arrangement of the blocks and slabs and it will be of course apparent that any number of the columns and blocks can be used in connection with the slabs and that in one column of the blocks as shown in Figure 1, the channels will be near the bottom of the wall, whereas in the next column they will be near the top of the wall, these channels connecting the intermediate spaces formed by the slabs.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that various adaptations of the form of building block shown can be had by reason of the novel manner of interfitting the blocks and also the slabs and that with the provision of blocks and slabs such as set out a wall can be readily constructed which will present a neat and effective appearance and which will be provided with air spaces in one part and have the other part amply reinforced by reinforced concrete construction.

It should be clearly understood that with the forms of block construction shown and clearly described, I aim not only to provide a construction which when completed will be of a monolithic nature but which in the very beginning, works a savin of time, labor and material. To this en it should be noted that the individual blocks when set up are in fact forms for the subse uent fillingV of concrete or other rein orcement whereby the monolithic construction is obtained and that these forms instead of being ultimately torn away and removed as in the nature of removable forms now generally used in concrete constructions, are in fact and' become a unitary part of the finished construction. It is well known that in the resent construction of concrete walls for bui dings and the like, the usual method adopted is to set up certain forms made either of wood or steel and then fill in between the sides of the forms, ultimately removing the forms to expose the built up structure. By careful reference to the views it will be seen that the blocks employed in the )resent instance after bein set up are fille in with concrete rein orced with Suitable steel and that the blocks althou h primarily forming a frame-work, on t e finished construction remain and become an integral part of the entire wall or other structure that is being built. With this in mind it will be apparent that the facings of the blocks can be of any desired confi uration or present any desired form of fignish, whereas in concrete work? built up with forms the finish when the concrete is re moved is a plain and rough one which must later on be coated or otherwise operated upon to bring about that desired monolithic appearance as for instance in the makin of a stucco. So also in concrete work guilt from forms, if a finished stone appearance or veneer appearance is desired, the same must be built on to the finished construction and involves an additional operation. With my form of construction there is provided a means insuring equally as much strength yanddurability and providing for a finish or surface which is a primary part of the operation and not a secondary additional operation involving considerable cost and expense.

Having described my invention, I claiml. In a building construction, vertically disposed spaced pillars consisting of blocks in offset relation, transversely arranged air passages therein, the air passages of one illar being located at a dierent elevation from those of the adjacent pillar, slabs connecting the pillars, said slabs being arranged -arranged in offset relation, a transversely arranged air passage therein, the air passage of one pillar bemg located at a different elevation from those of the adjacent pillar, slabs connecting the pillars, said slabs being arranged in vertical spaced relation to provide spaces between the pillars which communicate with the air passages and define vertical air chambers and horizontal passages connecting the air chambers with the a1r passages disposed in vertical staggered relation and means including reinforced concrete construction for connecting the pillars and slabs. y

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

JOSEPH GRASSO. 

